April 25, 2011

The months of March and April were pretty rough for my family. My poor Mama had another spell in the hospital with her heart and breathing issues and from there.... it all went downhill. My Dad got sick with a stomach 'thing' that sent him to the hosptial then my Amelia-Claire got it and ended up here:

(See poor pathetic sunken-eyed little girl below)

Her Daddy says it was from wearing her Justin Bieber shirt.... she didn't agree.

Then.... everyone else got it. My Mom ended up going back for two days because of it and my poor Angel of Husband got it and still has it. Poor guy... he's not used to being sick.

(It's actuallykinda funny........ he thinks he can beat it with his own man-made-thought-up home remedies. Tee and Hee!)

Bascially what all of this means on the sewing/crafting homefront is that

THERE IS NO SEWING AND CRAFTING ON THE HOMEFRONT!

I do however have a ton of purses screaming at me from my "book-0-orders" and I'm trying my best to get to them and satisfy my awesome customers. It's happening, slowly but surely. I also have a good amount of other neat stuff to blog about but can't seem to find 'ye old son's camera that I have to borrow since mine brokeded' to be able to show you with pictures AND words.

May 19, 2010

Darren called me before lunch on Tuesday to tell me that his Dad was very sick and refusing to go back to the hospital. I told him........ we have to go.

Later that evening, we were on our way to Tennessee thinking we would give him a good talking to and maybe even get him well enough to come home with us to stay. It didn't work out that way.

When we go there we found out he was in ICU and that the girls wouldn't be able to visit. This was heart breaking since he still had never met Avonlea and we told Amelia that she would get to visit.

He was already on a breathing machine and medicated to where he was unconcious. Later that evening after getting us settled into a hotel, Darren drove back to the hospital to stay with his Dad. His condition was worse and he was miserable.

Ultimately, Darren made a decision for his Dad to die peacefully. He wasn't going to improve and no matter what they did medically...... he was getting worse.

Darren stayed with his Dad and held his hand. He talked to him, told him that he loved him, showed him pictures of the girls and asked him to please watch over them as they grew. He also cried, which he hasn't done since he was a very young boy.

He stayed for another 20 minutes after he passed just because he thought that maybe he would still be near.

We ended up staying until Sunday since we needed to pack up his home and make arrangements. It's funny what you learn about a person after they pass away, just by going through their home. He had pictures of Darren, the girls and even of my boys everywhere. He saved every card, letter, photo and even envelopes that we ever sent. He had a coffee can full of quarters marked for Amelia Claire. He saved newspaper clippings of Darren from high school and even his shot record.

I also found a high school reunion yearbook where he claimed to have seven grandchildren. He truly only had Amelia Claire and Avonlea but added my two boys and his oldest son's stepchildren as well.

I believe that he saved these things and kept them close because he couldn't say or show the emotions he was feeling. He was a hard/grumpy man most of the time but now.... we know better.

April 05, 2010

Next weekend, my friend Kayse will be photographing my family.... it's going to be good! She's promised to edit out any blemishes that pop up on my face and to also make me look 4o pounds lighter than I am.

She's a very good friend.

I've scope out a few places for our photo shoot. We both want to try something hip, new, out of the ordinary and fun. I can't wait to see what she can do. She's the one who took this favorite last year of Avonlea

.

One of the places I've picked out is a chippy/crappy turquoise wall from an old motel that is here in our little town. I'm a bit nervous to go there ....... only because I think people have been known to wake up dead there.

Did I mention it's a really GREAT chippy/crappy turquoise wall?

To make this occasion even more special-er I'm going to make the girls matching dresses. Yes, matching dresses...... I'm one of those Moms.

This is a Liberty of London dress at Target.... that is now sold out. (Along with almost every other Liberty of London item!) I love the bold design, colors and length and I will attempt to make my little girls dresses that mimick this one. I bought some Nicey Jane fabric last weekend that I think will be perfect. It has the boldness of the yellow with a great verical print and just enough turquoise to tie into the wall.

I just have to find my elastic thread. Any guesses where it could be?

I made Amelia a top like this a hundred years ago and found it to be really simple. If you want to attempt to make one as well here are some tutorials for you to check out:

March 13, 2010

Last Tuesday I took Amelia Claire to be tested for allergies. Since she was about a year old, she started breaking out in eczema. If anyone of you have experienced a fight with this skin condition understands that it's a never ending cycle. My poor girls legs and fingers are constantly red, scaley and sometimes cracky and oozy.

Sorry for the mental picture.

As far as we suspected, it was milk that caused the issue. Since taking her off of milk and restricting a good amount of dairy, her eczema seemed to improve.

But not enough to make us happy..... she's miserable most of the time. She takes Clariton everyday and also has a steroid cream for her spots. It's just not enough and we're beginning to worry about scarring.

So, her allergist suggested that we start her testing with foods. She panicked at the first prick and was ready to L.E.A.V.E the office..... however way she could find! Poor thing.

However, we now know she is HIGHLY ALLERGIC to Cashews and Pistachio Nuts.

(How could something so delicious potentially kill my girl?)

I was sent home with prescriptions for a stronger allergy medicine and a new cream for her fingers and spots.

And an Epi-pen.

I got kinda freaked out. I called her Daddy. He got kinda freaked out.

Darren remembered eating a bowl of pistachio's during Christmas with Amelia in the living room playing. He said it was like having a loaded gun in the same room with her. He's right. There was a little guy whose Daddy gave him a taste of one last year in a city next to ours.... they couldn't get him to the ER in time.

My heart sank after the Dr. told me that.

So, naturally I head to my lap-top and type in Tree Nut allergy and Cashews/Pistachio allergy. Come to find out, Cashews and Pistachio's are in the same family of nuts which kinda explains why the pecan and walnuts and etc.... didn't seem to cause a problem.

I guess these two nuts are related to the mango tree as well as poison ivy. So, we've decided to do our best to keep her away from these things as well..... even though.

I took the paper with the information on it to the school the next morning and talked to her teacher and the school nurse. The nurse was so fantastic and took this VERY seriously. Every tacher that comes in contact with Amelia Claire will have training on how to use her epi-pen. She was really helpful in making me feel better. However, while I waited on her .......... the secretary was like:

"Oh, for the twenty years I've worked here, we've never had cashews or pistachio's. So I wouldn't worry about it too much."

Ummmm.......... ? Have you lost your mind lady? These may not be as common as peanuts but you never know when someone will send a special cookie to school with their kid who in turn wants to share. She can't even have a cookie with the nuts picked out or even kissed on the lips by someone who has eaten them. Moron.

It only takes one time..... and she may be gone from us forever.

It's haunting..... truly haunting.

*****************************************

Now that it's Saturday, I'm feeling a bit better. I've gone through the cupboards and rid our house of anything that is listed as Tree Nuts or Cashews/Pistachio's. (Cashews were even listed in my Strawberry Crystal Light made by Wal-Mart! Crazy.) I've also been shopping around for a Medic-Alert bracelet for her. They've actually got some pretty cute one's out there. I'm thinking about this one:

I think it's sweet and I'm sure she won't mind wearing it everyday.

In the meantime.... I plan to make a cute little carrying case for her pen as I saw on SouleMama's blog a while back. I've also seen some other really cute handmade epi-pen carrier type thingies that will work for us. I have to carry it and a bottle of Benadryl everywhere we go now so why not make it fun for her and me?

I'll post on that soon.... it's a project I can do this weekend.

On another note, I have Spring Break this week! Thank Goodness.... I'm so relieved that I don't have to drive four nights a week and leave my family. Tuesday, I'll be taking Amelia Claire back to the Allergist for pollen testing. Wednesday, I'll be taking my Mom to Daytona Beach to see Jeff Dunham live. Between these two days I'm going to try and get a new little shop set up on my blog for the summer. I've had several requests for dresses and since I won't have school.... I'll have time. I'm looking forward to it too!

March 02, 2010

Last year Darren and I took Amelia Claire and Avonlea to Disney World.... it was magical! Amelia loved every second of the visit. On her "must do" list was meeting Ariel, riding the Carusel and eating supper in Cinderella's castle!

So, when the "Give a Day-Get a Day" program from Disney was announced.... I signed us up! There are TONS and TONS of charities to choose from but since we had such little ones that need to tag-along with us or take part.... we could do one from home.

I chose to make Linus blankets.... it was a perfect fit for us! Amelia Claire helped pick out the blankets, made the cards to give to the child that receives the blanket and also posed for pictures! (Avonlea helped too!)

The guidelines were easy to follow. We have to send one blanket per person.... in our case it's two... one for Darren and one for me. We have to include photo's of the blanket being made to show that our family took part in the construction.

It was a nice little family project.....

I enjoyed making them with the girls and talking to Amelia Claire about who is going to get them and why. We may just have to make this a monthly project for us!

*Just in case you're wondering ..... my boys are volunteering with their Dad.*

April 29, 2009

That's right, something useful and if it just so happens to be something pretty....... it's even better.

For my Mom's 70th birthday I made her a fold over bag to hold all of her medications..... mostly for when she travels or goes on little trips to Daytona.

I chose a pretty table runner than was in great shape. I trimmed the sides to make it more even, cut it in half and then sewed it right sides together and along the bottom. I "paper bagged" the bottom and made a lining out of a sweet reproduction print in pinks and blues.

I sewed in a white pony-tail holder in the center of the bag between the linen and the lining.

Then made a button to match the lining.

(I am presently taking donations for a manicure....)

Then sewed it to the bag being certain to mark the correct spot first with a mark-b-gone marker. I love those things!

I added a copy of "Dozen's of ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase" to the bag too. I fit perfectly!

I also added a "gift certificate" for a cheesecake made with Splenda for her trip to Daytona with my Aunt Rosemary.